Casa Cacao – Chiapas, Mexico 73% Dark

Description

TASTING NOTES

The porcelana beans in this bar give it an astonishingly light colour, more akin to milk chocolate than dark. Notes of raisins, mango, and apricot come through on the body with hints of almond at the end.

ABOUT THE MAKER

You may have seen renowned chef, restauranteur, and pastry maker Jordi Roca on his own episode of Netflix’s The Chef’s Table. A trailblazing culinary figure, he discovered the magic of cocoa on a visit to the Awajún native community in Peru. He saw their under-appreciated dedication to the craft of cocoa farming, and determined to make bars that – as with wine – resemble the people who create them. He partnered with chocolatier Damian Allsop, and together they have successfully launched a boutique hotel and café in their hometown of Girona.

 THE BEANS

The beans in this bar are grown on Finca La Rioja, a nine-hectare estate in Cacahoatan, Mexico. Boasting over 4000 years of continual cocoa production, the Chiapas region is the source of the very first cocoa beans to travel to Europe in the early 16th century. The farm is very proud of its chocolate growing heritage, noting that Cacahoatan means “place of cacao” in the ancient Toltec language.